Honoring Hispanic Heritage Month: Climate Justice & Community Resilience

by Sydni Townsend

Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to celebrate the history, strength, and contributions of Latinx communities. It is also a time to reflect on the social and environmental injustices these communities continue to face today, including the increasing threat of extreme heat. Latinx communities in the U.S., as well as Black communities, are typically impacted more significantly by localized heat due to decades of disinvestment and redlining, which left fewer trees and green spaces in their neighborhoods and created areas that are hotter than those of their neighbors. The larger risks resulting from heat exposure are very real, especially for outdoor workers, who are often Latino and even more susceptible to heat-related illness and death.

Local Communities Find Solutions

Despite these challenges, local communities are at the forefront of finding solutions that reduce heat exposure and build social and cultural networks. Below are resources and stories to explore during Hispanic Heritage Month that help us understand and contribute to this ongoing work:

• Moms Clean Air Force fact sheet explains how rising temperatures disproportionately impact Latinx families, from those living in urban neighborhoods to farmworkers in the fields.
• The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) recently highlighted community solutions such as cool roofs, shaded bus stops, and safe gathering spaces — strategies urgently needed in vulnerable neighborhoods.
• This bilingual children’s book, Still Dreaming / Seguimos soñando, by Claudia Guadalupe Martinez, published by Lee & Low, tells the story of the Mexican Repatriation in the 1930s. Winner of the Pura Belpré Award, it uplifts a history often left out of classrooms while remaining deeply relevant today.
• Across the U.S., young leaders are planting trees, reclaiming vacant lots, and creating pollinator gardens that help lower dangerous heat while building safe and welcoming spaces. Organizations like Groundwork USA, Baltimore’s Black Yield Institute, and Detroit’s Black Community Food Security Network show how climate resilience is inseparable from racial and social justice.

Join Our Just Energy 4 All Webinar

As part of this commitment, we invite you to join United Women in Faith for our upcoming webinar, Youth-Based Solutions to Heat Islands, on September 16 at 3 p.m. This event will highlight community-led strategies to address extreme heat and create safe, green spaces for all. Click below to register and be part of the conversation.